Eight women from the Samburu Community were among the recipients of title deeds at titling exercise presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta at the KICC in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney said the historic event had been made possible as a result of the tremendous successes in the Ministry’s National Titling Programme courtesy of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s unwavering support and leadership.
“Today, for the first time since independence, women from the Samburu community will receive title deeds. Your Excellency, the milestones we are making in the Ministry, under the National Titling Programme, are as a result of the support that you have accorded us and the increased budgetary allocations for the programme,” she said.
The event saw 10,000 title deeds issued to residents of Samburu, which is a record number of titles issued in a year.
Previously the county had only received 2,000 title deeds between 1963 and 2019, according to communication from the Ministry of Lands.
Karoney said the government had already set new records in the number of title deed issued adding that efforts are being made to increase the numbers further.
“In the seven years of your presidency, you have issued a total of 5.1 million title deeds against a total of 6 million issued by the last three presidents over a period of 50 years. We are working hard to ensure you overlap these numbers by surpassing the 6 million mark by 2022,” she stated.
In his speech, Uhuru congratulated the Ministry of Lands for an exemplary job in ensuring faster processing and issuance of title deeds.
The Head of State reiterated his commitment to resolving land issues and boundary disputes and ensuring that land is not a campaign agenda as has been the case in the past.
“When I took office in 2013, I told Kenyans that I will work towards resolving land issues that have gripped our communities for decades, and ensure that politicians do not use the land as a campaign topic.
“We have made tremendous gains so far, with a record number of title deeds issued, squatters resettled and conflicts resolved. The corona pandemic disrupted our title deeds issuance activities in the Coast Region, Rift Valley and other places, but once the situation has been contained we will be visiting these regions,” he said.
The event also saw additional land given to the Nairobi National Park as part of government’s expansion programme, and title deed issued back to KWS for previously grabbed land at City Park.
The government also issued a title deed to Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui for the Naivasha Special Economic Zone aimed at spurring economic growth in the county, and to Narok Governor Samuel Tunai for the Maasai Mara National Reserve to aid preservation efforts.
Uhuru further flagged off 75 double cabin motor vehicles, acquired through a leasing programme with General Motors as part of the government’s But Kenya, Build Kenya initiative.
Of the 75 vehicles, 60 will be deployed to the county registries to aid with mobility and scale up the National Titling Programme at the grassroots.